This invention relates to techniques for mounting peripheral equipment such as media drives in computer enclosures.
Most computer enclosures are designed to contain one or more peripheral devices such as media drives. Examples of such peripheral devices might include, for example, a DVD ROM drive, a CD ROM drive, a CD Writer, a magnetic disk drive, or the like. Typically, a peripheral device is mounted to the enclosure through an opening in a wall or panel of the computer chassis. While many techniques have been devised to attach a peripheral device to a chassis, the most convenient techniques for doing so are those that do not require the use of tools. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,644 (xe2x80x9cBrunelxe2x80x9d) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,382 (xe2x80x9cSiedowxe2x80x9d) each disclose a mounting adapter for a peripheral device wherein tools are not required for attaching the adapter to the device or for attaching the adapter to the computer enclosure. Since the contributions of Brunel and Siedow, however, computer enclosures and peripheral devices have become lower in profile. In addition, a practical requirement remains for being able to vertically stack as many devices as possible within the confines of an enclosure. It would therefore be desirable to have a tool-less drive mounting adapter for use in a low-profile environment.
A mounting adapter according to the invention may be used with a peripheral device having longitudinal and transverse dimensions such that the device slides into a chassis opening with its longitudinal dimension orthogonal to the opening. A strip is adapted to fit across the top or bottom of the device transversely. First and second device engagement tabs are provided for engaging holes on left and right sides of the device, and first and second chassis engagement tabs are provided for engaging holes on left and right sides of the chassis opening. The chassis engagement tabs and one of the device engagement tabs are disposed on arms that can be moved elastically in the transverse direction to engage and disengage the tabs with their corresponding holes. The adapter can be fashioned from a unitary piece of metal, and adds only the thickness of the strip to the vertical dimension of the peripheral device.